'People are like "who the fuck are you? Piss off."'
While the rest of us spend our Saturdays lying in bed hungover and binge-watching boxsets on Netflix, Lucy Hall is knocking on doors. She’s not trying to flog people dusters or religion – she’s canvassing support for her campaign to run as an independent MP. And it’s not exactly a walk in the park.
'It’s fucking scary. It’s not just that I’m a girl; it’s also that I’m young. I’m knocking on doors and saying: "I’m running as an independent, vote for me." The first time I had a bad response, I wanted to cry. I gave this woman a flyer and she was like: "Seriously? You’re running for MP? Are you joking?" Her tone and the way she looked at me just made me doubt everything – I thought, maybe she’s right and this is ridiculous,' says Lucy.
Lucy is a 25-year-old graduate who decided to run an independent MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark just six weeks ago. Like most good ideas, she came up with it at the pub. ‘It happened very organically. I met my friend Jack for a drink and we were talking about how people like Sol Campbell are running to be an MP. We just thought, fuck it, shall I run?’
OK we’ve all been there – but usually our 'AMAZING' drunken ideas are forgotten by morning with all inspirational thoughts replaced by an urgent need for a Diet Coke. So how the hell do you go about running to be an MP? Lucy tells me, ‘you have to raise £500 as an independent, which I did through crowdfunding and was overwhelmed by the support. Then I just needed 10 signatures from people in Bermondsey.’ Lucy says the practical part is fairly straightforward, but it’s tricky running a campaign on no money and with only a small team made up of her mates.
Lucy's interest in politics wasn't totally invented on a boozy night out. After studying the subject at university, she was involved in Ed Miliband’s campaign for Labour leadership in 2010. She volunteered on the campaign one summer during uni and remembers being really excited about it. ‘It’s not his fault, but as soon as he was into the system, it’s like you’re just another lying politician. To me that says more about the system than him.’
Lucy says she finds the current system ‘completely ridiculous’, which is why she chose to run as an independent MP rather than affiliating herself with a particular party. ‘The whip system is fucked’, she says. 'Every party has a few whips and there’s a chief whip, so when there’s a vote in the commons, the whips will go round individually to MPs and ask how they’re going to vote. If you don’t vote how they want then you’re going to lose your seat – it’s blackmail basically. You go in with morals and then you lose them all because you’re being told to do something.’
It’s not his fault, but as soon as he was into the system, it’s like you’re just another lying politician. To me that says more about the system than him.
But by running for MP, independent or not, isn’t she at risk of becoming part of the system she’s so disillusioned with? She says this is exactly what she wants to address in her manifesto. Lucy wants to make legislation democratic by developing an app that would allow constituents to vote on every piece of legislation, and if elected, she would represent the majority vote in Parliament. She sees the app as a way to make voting easier and get people engaged by giving them some power back. Lucy also plans for a big push on political education so that people using the app can make informed decisions, rather than mindlessly swiping left or right.
In the 2010 general election, only 44% of people aged 18-24 voted, and the turnout was even less for women in this age bracket, with only 39% using their vote in comparison to 50% of men of the same age. Lucy says she wants to tap into how disillusioned people are with politics. She points out that in the last election, only 35% of people voted for the Conservatives, but ‘we’ve had one of the most right wing governments ever – how is that democracy?’, she asks.
When it comes to how women are perceived in politics, Lucy believes we have a long way to go. ‘It annoys me that whenever a woman does something, we have to talk about the fact that she’s a woman and she’s doing it. Why are we dividing the world between men and women so much?’
But she admits that being a young woman in politics is a bit of minefield. When she volunteered on Miliband’s campaign, she says she and her friend were just seen as the ‘young, pretty girls’. She continues, ‘that became our identity on the campaign – it was what we were known as. And we felt like, actually that’s not what we’re here to be.’
Do I try to be this really serious politician that wears suits and stuff? I’m not her - so I find it difficult.
Lucy says she constantly worries about how she’ll be perceived, especially when it comes to what to wear. If you thought trying to decide on a first date outfit was difficult, imagine trying to work out what exactly the MP dress code is. ‘I don’t know what to wear for campaigning. I want to seem professional but I’m also a 25-year-old normal girl, so do I just be that? Or do I try to be this really serious politician that wears suits and stuff? I’m not her - so I find it difficult.’
And it’s not just crop tops versus power suits. She was recently out with a friend who started telling the barman all about her campaign. At that point, Lucy felt she should switch her G&T order to an OJ. ‘I was suddenly like, obviously no getting drunk for me tonight. That’s a massive thing I’ve been thinking about – am I allowed to go out? I don’t really know what the answer is. Maybe I should cut off my social life completely until the election.’
She says it feels quite alienating doing something so different to all her friends. ‘I can’t do the same things as them now. I don’t want to get drunk in public – not that anyone knows who I am but it’s not worth the risk.’
And isn't she completely shitting herself about election night? A little bit. ‘What if it’s like, Lucy Hall: no votes?’ – but she’s quick to brush these thoughts off. ‘I have moments when I realise the magnitude of what I’m taking on but I’ve got nothing to lose; I might as well go for it.’
Read more about Lucy’s campaign here, and you can watch her campaign video here.
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Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.